Is GEO the same as SEO?

They overlap a lot. Google says its AI features use the same foundations as regular search, so good SEO is the base of GEO. The difference is the goal: GEO focuses on being named and linked inside an AI answer, not only on ranking as a blue link.

Can I pay to appear in ChatGPT or Google's AI answers?

Not in the regular answers. Ad programs may appear in some AI tools, and those are labeled as ads. What shows up in the answer itself depends on what the tool finds and trusts on the web.

How do I know if AI tools mention my business?

Ask them the questions your customers ask, like the best place for your service in your neighborhood, and note who gets named. Do it from time to time, since answers change. In Google Search Console, traffic from Google's AI features is counted in the regular Web search report.

How long does GEO take to work?

There's no set timeline, and no one can promise a mention. AI tools draw on what's already on the web, so changes to your site and your listings show up as those pages get crawled and reused. It's ongoing work, much like SEO.

What Is GEO (Generative Engine Optimization)?

Q: Do I need an llms.txt file or special AI markup?

For Google, no. Google says you don't need new machine-readable files, AI text files or special markup to appear in its AI features. Spend the time on clear, accurate pages instead.

GEO means getting your business named in answers from ChatGPT, Google's AI Overviews and similar tools. What it is, what helps, and what's hype.

By DPI Web Studio team · October 9, 2026 · 6 min read

Key takeaways

GEO is the work of getting your business named and linked in answers from AI tools like ChatGPT, Perplexity and Google's AI Overviews.
Google says its AI features need no special tricks: a page has to be indexed and eligible for a snippet, and the normal SEO basics apply.
Clear facts and plain answers to real questions make a page easier for AI tools to use and quote. A visible author helps too.
Don't block the search crawlers of the AI tools you want to appear in, and keep your Google Business Profile accurate.
Be careful with anyone selling secret AI ranking hacks. No one can promise that an AI tool will mention you.

Some of your customers now ask a question and get an answer instead of a list of links. They type “Who does good kitchen remodels in Bay Ridge?” into ChatGPT. Or they search on Google and see an AI summary at the top, with a few businesses and sources named inside it.

If your business is named in that answer, you’re in the conversation. If not, you may never know the customer was looking.

Getting named there has a name of its own: GEO.

GEO in one sentence

GEO, short for generative engine optimization, is the work of making sure AI tools can find your business and have enough clear facts to recommend it in their answers.

“Generative engine” just means a tool that writes an answer instead of showing a list. ChatGPT and Perplexity are common examples. So are Google’s AI Overviews and Google’s AI Mode, which sit inside Google Search.

Where the term came from

The name comes from a research paper, “GEO: Generative Engine Optimization”, first posted in 2023 and accepted to the KDD 2024 conference. The researchers tested ways of rewriting web pages to see which ones made AI answers use and cite those pages more.

In their tests, three changes helped most: citing sources, adding quotes from relevant sources, and adding statistics. The authors report these improved visibility by up to about 40% on their benchmark. Stuffing a page with keywords, the old SEO trick, did little or nothing.

Two cautions. That was a lab benchmark, not a promise about your business. And the paper found results differed by topic. Still, it points in a sensible direction: pages that are specific and well supported tend to get used.

Where AI answers show up

Google AI Overviews and AI Mode. These appear inside Google Search. Google explains in its guide to AI features and your website that both may run several related searches behind the scenes, then show a wider set of links than a classic results page.

ChatGPT search. OpenAI uses a crawler called OAI-SearchBot to find pages for ChatGPT’s search answers. OpenAI says sites that block it won’t be shown in ChatGPT search answers, though they can still appear as plain navigational links.

Perplexity. Perplexity says its crawler, PerplexityBot, is designed to surface and link websites in its search results, and isn’t used to train AI models.

Many other assistants work in a similar way. They search the web, read what they find, and write an answer.

Is GEO different from SEO?

Less than people selling it would like you to think.

Google says plainly that there are no extra requirements and no special optimizations needed to appear in AI Overviews or AI Mode. To be shown as a supporting link, a page must be indexed and eligible to appear in Google Search with a snippet. The usual SEO basics still apply.

Google also says you don’t need new machine-readable files, AI text files or special markup to appear in these features. So if someone tells you the first step is an “AI file” for Google, they’re wrong.

Where GEO adds something is in focus:

Being used in the answer. A ranking puts your link on a list. Here the aim is for the AI to take its answer from your page and name you in it.
Facts in plain words. AI tools pull out specific facts. Vague pages give them nothing to quote.
Your name across the web. AI tools read many sources, so what other sites say about you matters too.

If your SEO is in decent shape, you’re already most of the way there.

What actually helps

1. Make sure you can be found at all

Your pages need to be indexed by Google. Your site shouldn’t block the crawlers that power the AI tools you care about. Check your robots.txt file, the small file that tells crawlers what they may visit.

There’s a twist here. OpenAI runs separate crawlers for search and for training. OpenAI says blocking GPTBot keeps your content out of model training, while OAI-SearchBot controls whether you appear in ChatGPT search. You can allow one and block the other. Google has a similar control, Google-Extended, for some of its AI training, while Search is controlled by the regular Googlebot.

2. Put your key facts in plain text

Google advises keeping important content available as text. Write out your services and the areas you serve. Say who you help and what sets you apart, and put your hours on the page as words. Not buried in an image or a PDF menu.

A dentist’s page that says “We see children from age two, accept these insurance plans, and offer evening hours on Tuesdays and Thursdays” gives an AI tool something to work with. “Quality care for the whole family” does not.

3. Answer the questions people really ask

Write down the questions customers ask you on the phone. Then answer them on your site, one clear answer each. How much does it cost? How long does it take? Do you work weekends? Do you serve my neighborhood?

Plain answers help human readers first. They also give AI tools a clean sentence to pick up.

4. Show who’s behind it

Google’s guide to helpful, reliable, people-first content encourages accurate author information where readers would expect it. For a local business, that means real names, real photos, licenses where they apply, and an honest About page.

5. Keep your listings accurate

Google’s AI features guide tells businesses to keep their Business Profile information up to date. Your hours and categories should match everywhere they appear, and so should your name, address and phone. Wrong hours on one site can end up repeated in an answer.

6. Earn mentions elsewhere

AI tools can also draw on what other sites say about you: reviews and local news, neighborhood guides, industry sites. A story in a local paper adds to the picture. So do real reviews, or a listing with your trade association. This is the same work that builds trust in local SEO.

What to skip

Special AI files for Google. As above, Google says they’re not needed for its AI features.

Keyword stuffing. It didn’t help in the GEO research, and it makes pages worse for people.

Mass-produced pages. Hundreds of thin “best plumber in every neighborhood” pages make the site worse for people, and Google’s people-first guidance warns against content made mainly to manipulate rankings.

Fake reviews and fake mentions. Beyond being dishonest, buying fake reviews breaks FTC rules that took effect in October 2024.

Promises. No one controls what an AI tool says. Anyone promising guaranteed mentions in ChatGPT is promising something they can’t deliver.

How to check where you stand

You don’t need special software to start. Once a month:

Ask ChatGPT and Perplexity the three or four questions your best customers ask, then ask Google the same. Use their words, like “kid-friendly dentist in Park Slope.”
Note who gets named and which pages are linked.
Look at what those businesses’ pages say that yours don’t.
In Google Search Console, watch your regular Web search report. Google says traffic from its AI features is counted there.

Answers change from day to day, so look for patterns over a few months, not single results.

Where we can help

GEO isn’t magic, and it isn’t separate from the rest of your online presence. Mostly it’s clear pages and accurate listings, kept up month after month. A good name around town helps too.

Our GEO service looks at how AI tools describe your business today, then works on the pages and listings they draw from, so the right facts are there to find. No secret tricks, and no promises we can’t keep.